What Goes Around, Comes Around...?


My college-aged son enjoys the music of John Mayer. Ever since he was old enough to appreciate and give comment to some of the newer the music he likes, I have always tried to point out similarities between said artist(s) and those from the past that may have influenced them. I have the general theory that little is truly "new", but perhaps a bit different. My intention has not been to disparage newer music because much is good, and in some cases very good, just not strictly original or "ground-breaking" (how over-used is THAT term?).

Anyway, I find distinct parallels between John Mayer and Michael Franks, an artist with many recordings beginning in the early-70's. I find this a rather striking comparison because John Mayer is all the rage and Michael Franks would seem much lesser known, even among old geezers like me. My son found some the Franks LP's to his liking and quickly burned a few off my LP's off for his modest digital rig at school.

I am wondering who find comparative similarity between contemporary artists who are touted as "all that" and perhaps lesser known artists from the past. Might be helpful to go both ways with this so that "youngsters" and "oldsters" might find music they like that would otherwise go unheard.
4yanx
Dear Four Yanks,

I agree totally with the Franks/Mayer likeness. I metioned the exact same comment to my college aged daughter the first time I heard John. She likes Mike... but she does think "eggplant" is a bit hoaky. If she only knew...
Dan
dedicated audio
Actually, any of the current crop of female crooners, ie. Krall, Barber, Jacintha, etc.

Let's see.....Jeri Southern, Peggy Lee, June Christy, Chris Conner, Helen Merrill, etc.

And, although not really politically correct, I prefer the latter to the former about 90% of the time.
Speaking of Peggy Lee....

Anyone happen to see some of the Dinah Shore repeats that
have been playing on the recent PBS fund-raising shows?

They showed a 1975 duet with Dinah and Peggy Lee doing
"Let's Love" that absolutely blew me away. Can't imagine
a contemporary pair like Krall/Jones trying to pull off
something similar.

I didn't know Dinah could swing like that......
Post removed 
Not sure about your pigmentation theory, Marty, but it is often helpful to take yet another step towards the dusty recesses of the vault, man. Mose Alison is the type of relatively obscure reference I was looking for in comparisons. Great piany player, too!
Post removed 
Another artist that I find similar to Michael Franks is Kenny Rankin. Same relaxing sound but with more accoustic guitar accompaniment. Try his "Best of Kenny Rankin" CD which contains a lot of his best works IMO. The CD includes his rendition of the Beatles's Penny Lane, Black Bird. Other favorite tracks of mine include Silver Morning, Haven't We Met, Peaceful.
Oh, this wasn't intended to be only a comparison of Franks/Mayer/others, but kinda like Viridian's Benson/Montgomery take.

Do appreciate the suggestion, at any rate, exceit.
I agree with Viridian with regard to the Franks / Alison comparison. I think you could add John Pizzarelli to that mix. If you strectch it, you might add Hoagy Carmicheal(sp?) too.